DEBUNKING DR. GEOFFREY NASE

We have been forwarded by a third party a copy of a message from the Consumer Protection Division of Indiana, which is part of the Indiana Attorney-General's department. It was written in response to a query about the activities of Geoffrey Nase, Ph.D.:

"As you know it is the policy of the Attorney General not to discuss the status or existence of any investigations. I would like to urge you to have those suffering from this doctor's treatment to file a complaint and or contact the medical licensing board."

This web site is intended to present facts about Geoffrey Nase, PhD, a man who has exerted his considerable influence over an almost captive population, both on the internet and through his book Beating Rosacea.

What we write is not defamatory because it is substantiated and true to the best of our knowledge. We strive for accuracy and our site is as honest as we can make it. We have not infringed on copyrights, nor acted in bad faith. We are doing our best to act as good stewards in the rosacea community.

Background

ALWAYS In His Own Words?

“When I post or write something, everyone always knows it’s me. I sign the post or email and I take full responsibility for the post. No smoke, glasses and mirrors ... just me.”

(From < drnase.com/The_Truth > )

Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Across the main internet rosacea groups, we've seen the following:

posts by several of Nase’s closest supporters can be clearly divided into those written in their own natural styles and those where his voice is unmistakable;

posts under various names but bearing the same IP address as posts Nase has admitted sending from his own computer;

supporting emails sent from Nase's computer when he is apparently undergoing one of his periodic near-death experiences come under a variety of different names, but all sound just like Nase himself;

he sometimes publishes emails allegedly from other people but that may have been substantially rewritten.

The most damning evidence is the undeniable fact that Nase has hurried back to delete text or even whole posts when he was caught out. We feel very strongly that posters should not be permitted to delete their messages without exceptionally good reason. Allowing people to go back and change the text after others have responded on that same thread makes a mockery of the boards. It is a low, dishonest way to proceed and we don’t understand why some board owners allow this to continue.

Because we believe that the best way to confront Nase is by presenting what he has written and letting you judge him from his own words, we usually add hyperlinks or give the full reference so you can check it for yourself. (We couldn’t include the full document or paragraph for every quote or this web site would run to hundreds of pages, but we do try to keep quotes as long as they need to be.) If posts and threads have been deleted, you can always ask the owner of the relevant board to verify if a quote is correct.

==Note From The Editor== Welcome to our web site!

No one involved in our team ever expected to be in this position, but we decided that someone in the rosacea community had to stand up to Geoffrey Nase and ask the hard questions that needed answers.

Nase has torn into everyone he thinks might be involved, whether or not they have had any contact with us, so it’s hardly surprising that people seek anonymity.

It's not easy for normally peaceful people to engage in this type of verbal warfare, but such tactics were regrettably required to set the record straight, so we very much appreciate your support. Thank you.

Although most of the feedback we've received has been warmly encouraging, we do understand that many readers have been deeply shocked by the revelations.

Our Position

Geoffrey Nase has undeniably helped thousands of people by collecting research studies on rosacea from around the world and making them available in a single volume. He is commended for this work, and for his past campaigning for better treatments.

Our objection is not to “the Nase of old”, but to the distinctly different behavioral pattern we’ve all witnessed over the past 18 months or so, on and off the rosacea internet boards. We’ve seen the dissemination of bizarre health claims that are clearly false, the hyping of treatments that never match up to the promotion he gives them, and an avalanche of personal attacks that are both abusive and demeaning. These things must stop!

Nase’s status as a rosacea guru stems partly from his scientific training as a vascular researcher, and partly from claims that he brought himself back from all of the most severe forms of rosacea - so severe that it nearly killed him, although rosacea is not normally considered a fatal illness.

Yet despite Nase's claims that he has now had seven years of "100% remission" from rosacea, he consistently refuses to release clear, digital close-ups of his skin, and the few people who have been able to see him in person since September 2005 agree that he still has rosacea.

He has claimed many times that other medical professionals don't care about rosacea, and that there are no rosacea leaders except for him. We don’t believe this is true, or that he really is the lone voice of reason. He presents himself as our all-knowing and selfless rosacea savior, but he has stormed off all the main internet rosacea groups when his advice has been seriously questioned or criticized. Eventually, he was banned for life from each of these self-help groups.

The Health Dramas

Nase claims to have undergone an unusually high number of highly dramatic near-death experiences, beating incredible medical odds.

To take just one 5-week period in March/April 2005, Nase claimed to have survived:

We now know that during this time he was negotiating a contract with a laser physician for patient referrals (commonly known as ‘fee-splitting’). We proved that since April 1st 2005, he had been accepting such payments, and we proved that a full two months after these payments began, Nase was still insisting that he was not being paid. (This affiliation was later terminated by the laser specialist.)

When you add income from patient referrals to his considerable book sales, it is clear that Nase has plenty of reasons to want to build his reputation as the ultimate rosacea guru.

Over the years we have often been told that one expert or another has come seeking Nase’s guidance and will soon be working alongside him, but the promised collaborations always disappear. On several occasions, Nase claimed it was because the other person was professionally inept or financially corrupt. He is very quick to accuse innocent people of corrupt behavior.

Although Nase tells us that he is our only real hope of finding a cure, the tragic truth is that by his attempts to ‘corner the market’ on rosacea sufferers, he is driving a wedge between rosaceans and the other professionals who want to help.

For example, when challenged about his histrionic health crises, Nase flounced out of the Rosacea Research Foundation, the fund-raising group he had helped to create. As punishment, he dedicated himself to destroying the RRF. Medical professionals who wanted to join and support rosacea research feared to participate because no one wanted to be Nase’s next victim.

We think Nase’s increasingly aggressive and temperamental behaviour, both publicly and privately, has caused confusion, anxiety, and difficulties for many of the people he interacts with. Far from being our only hope of finding a cure, we believe that Nase is standing in the way. If we truly want to move forward, we as a community can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to the havoc that Geoffrey Nase is wreaking.

The Truth Site

Nase persists in calling this "the hate site", but our supporters call it "the truth site". To us, the truth is never hateful.

Contrary to Nase’s frequent claims, we have NEVER attacked any members of his family. We did once point out the discrepancy between his depiction of his family as very close and loving, yet as having virtually ostracised him. We did not see how this could be true. Now that we have a deeper understanding of the issues involved, we have removed that reference.